Warm & Toasty

December 16, 2008 by Kirsten 2 Comments

$61 for a new furnace igniter.

$192 for a new gas valve. 

A husband that somehow knows how to install all this stuff?

Priceless! 

Of course, this took awhile.  Starting with a Friday afternoon run to the parts store.  The igniter they sold us was bad, but it was too late, the place was closed.  It was a new kind, they’d just got them in.  Not the best thing to give someone to try out on a FRIDAY NIGHT!!

The weather wasn’t too bad over the weekend so we were fine.  We could light our furnace manually with a lighter (not recommended by the way) if we had to use it.  On Monday, new igniter was installed and the furnace fired every time.  I can only imagine what the HVAC guy would’ve charged by the hour, and then there’s probably extra $$ tacked on the parts, I’m sure.

We don’t have a fireplace but we do have a really nice kerosene heater that we use sometimes as supplemental heat.  Saves $$ on the gas bill.  We’ve been checking out small wood stoves.  Does anyone have experience with one?  We would need ours to be free standing, not an insert (no fireplace) and I don’t want anything huge.  We’ve got a TON of wood on our property from the ice storm(s) so purchasing wood wouldn’t happen for a very long time, if ever.  If you own one, let me know.  I’d like to know how you feel about it.